Trump Admin Floats New H1B Rules Favoring Skilled Workers, Scrap Lottery

WASHINGTON, DC –  Days after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation to significantly curtail the H-1B visa program by hiking the application fee, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has proposed to “amend its regulations” governing the process.

The DHS proposal seeks to scrap the existing lottery system and implement “a weighted selection process that would generally favor the allocation of H-1B visas to higher-skilled and higher-paid aliens, while maintaining the opportunity for employers to secure H-1B workers at all wage levels”.

The initiative will be opened for a 30-day public comment period.

The H-1B program, capped at 85,000 new visas annually, allowed US companies to hire skilled foreign workers in fields like technology and engineering through a random lottery system.

Trump just a few days ago signed a proclamation to crack down on H-1B visas, announcing a $100,000 fee for each new application.

“President Trump promised to put American workers first, and this common-sense action does just that by discouraging companies from spamming the system and driving down wages. It also gives certainty to American businesses who actually want to bring high-skilled workers to our great country but have been trampled on by abuses of the system,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.

The new proposal was announced as two senior Ministers – External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met Trump administration officials in New York on September 22.

After his meeting with Jaishankar, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that India is of “critical” value to his country and welcomed its ongoing interaction in trade. (IANS)